(September 20, 2023 at 10:44 pm)SuperSentient Wrote:

(September 20, 2023 at 10:07 pm)LinuxGal Wrote: Westboroids appear in William Gibson's novel "The Peripheral" thinly disguised as fictional.

...They’d started out as a church, or in a church, not liking anyone being gay or getting abortions or using birth control. Protesting military funerals, which was a thing. Basically they were just assholes, though, and took it as the measure of God’s satisfaction with them that everybody else thought they were assholes...

Someone needs to protest their church with the pride flags and stake a pro-LGBT sign nearby and watch em lose it.

They don't "lose it", they WANT counter-protestors, somebody always gets out of control and that's their game.

My atheism came as part of a package with my skepticism, the idea that my beliefs should be proportionate to the evidence.

(September 20, 2023 at 10:44 pm)SuperSentient Wrote:

(September 20, 2023 at 10:07 pm)LinuxGal Wrote: Westboroids appear in William Gibson's novel "The Peripheral" thinly disguised as fictional.

...They’d started out as a church, or in a church, not liking anyone being gay or getting abortions or using birth control. Protesting military funerals, which was a thing. Basically they were just assholes, though, and took it as the measure of God’s satisfaction with them that everybody else thought they were assholes...

Someone needs to protest their church with the pride flags and stake a pro-LGBT sign nearby and watch em lose it.

Already been done. This house is across the street from their church:



... and when the Foo Fighters hit KS on their tours, they pull stunts like this:

(September 21, 2023 at 10:56 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(September 20, 2023 at 10:44 pm)SuperSentient Wrote: Someone needs to protest their church with the pride flags and stake a pro-LGBT sign nearby and watch em lose it.

Already been done. This house is across the street from their church:



... and when the Foo Fighters hit KS on their tours, they pull stunts like this:

That's hilarious. Although I suppose they seek that kind of attention anyways so they aren't very much bothered by it.

(September 21, 2023 at 4:12 pm)SuperSentient Wrote: That's hilarious. Although I suppose they seek that kind of attention anyways so they aren't very much bothered by it.

My own opinion is that hate speech should always get an answer, whether or not it's feeding the troll or trolling the troll.

(September 21, 2023 at 6:54 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(September 21, 2023 at 4:12 pm)SuperSentient Wrote: That's hilarious. Although I suppose they seek that kind of attention anyways so they aren't very much bothered by it.

My own opinion is that hate speech should always get an answer, whether or not it's feeding the troll or trolling the troll.

Otherwise the trolls are the only ones heard. I used to hunt the NeoNazis in my home town in Indiana. Never got charged with anything.

(September 20, 2023 at 4:59 am)FrustratedFool Wrote: My lack of being convinced God exists doesn't stand alone.  It comes packaged with various inter-related opinions.

My atheism comes as a bundle with:
Agnosticism
Skepticism
Anti-religious sentiment
Nihilism
Materialism/Physicalism
Evolution
A high view of science (scientism?)
Left/ Liberal/ Progressive Politics
Not believing in moral realism
Not believing in freewill
Etc.

Does your atheism tie into other things, or does it stand alone?

I think mine came as the outcome of some psychological traits coupled with the lack of childhood indoctrination.

Lack of belief probably then makes it easier for me to assume there's no divine puppeteer and everything in the universe must have a scientific explanation... including human will, free or not... Neurologically deterministic, but psychologically free to ponder and consider different actions and their outcomes and then choose to do whichever seems to be the best use of my time.

(September 20, 2023 at 4:59 am)FrustratedFool Wrote: My lack of being convinced God exists doesn't stand alone.  It comes packaged with various inter-related opinions.

My atheism comes as a bundle with:
Agnosticism
Skepticism
Anti-religious sentiment
Nihilism
Materialism/Physicalism
Evolution
A high view of science (scientism?)
Left/ Liberal/ Progressive Politics
Not believing in moral realism
Not believing in freewill
Etc.

Does your atheism tie into other things, or does it stand alone?

My atheism is a byproduct of my skepticism. I believe atheism is the rational results of correctly applying skepticism to the god claim.

I was a skeptic before I was an atheist. I was skeptical about almost every other supernatural claim, but I went years without applying skepticism to my god beliefs. As soon as I did, my theism faded pretty quickly.

I am not a nihilist.
I fully accepted evolution before I was an atheist.
I believe that science is by far the best method we have for determining fact from fiction.
I was a progressive before I was an atheist.
I am a methodological materialist, not a philosophical materialist.
I am not a moral realist. I do, however, have an objective view on morality (search YT for "Matt Dillahunty. The superiority of secular morality").
I am a compatibilist with respect to free will.

(September 26, 2023 at 1:05 pm)Simon Moon Wrote:

(September 20, 2023 at 4:59 am)FrustratedFool Wrote: My lack of being convinced God exists doesn't stand alone.  It comes packaged with various inter-related opinions.

My atheism comes as a bundle with:
Agnosticism
Skepticism
Anti-religious sentiment
Nihilism
Materialism/Physicalism
Evolution
A high view of science (scientism?)
Left/ Liberal/ Progressive Politics
Not believing in moral realism
Not believing in freewill
Etc.

Does your atheism tie into other things, or does it stand alone?

My atheism is a byproduct of my skepticism. I believe atheism is the rational results of correctly applying skepticism to the god claim.

I was a skeptic before I was an atheist. I was skeptical about almost every other supernatural claim, but I went years without applying skepticism to my god beliefs. As soon as I did, my theism faded pretty quickly.

I am not a nihilist.
I fully accepted evolution before I was an atheist.
I believe that science is by far the best method we have for determining fact from fiction.
I was a progressive before I was an atheist.
I am a methodological materialist, not a philosophical materialist.
I am not a moral realist. I do, however, have an objective view on morality (search YT for "Matt Dillahunty. The superiority of secular morality").
I am a compatibilist with respect to free will.

Morality ain't objective, my man. Not in any way, shape, or form.

My atheism came in a vacuum. There was nothing to put in the "religion" bin, so nothing was what was there.